POPS’ board of trustees play a vital role in the running of the charity. If you are interested in applying to become a trustee we accept applications all year round. For more information on the role of a POPS’ trustee download our Trustees Application Form.
Ray Hill
POPS’ chair of trustees, Ray Hill, is a retired Prison Governor and former Director of Youth Custody at the Youth Justice Board.
His Prison Service experience encompasses a variety of roles including Governing Governor, Head of Employee Relations, Commissioning and Business Development and Transformation Management.
He maintains a keen interest in criminal and social justice affairs and has been Chair of Trustees at POPS since 2019. He also maintains a strong interest in developing his knowledge and understanding of neurodiversity.
Ray is an active sports enthusiast and is currently learning Spanish.
“I had the pleasure of being a strategic partner of POPs whilst working for HMPPS at Hindley and Manchester Prisons. I saw at the first hand the inspirational work POP’s staff did in helping and advising a range of vulnerable people. Supporting them in my retirement seemed like the least I could do to help such a transformative and worthwhile organisation.”
Guy Grant
In his current role for Amey, secure infrastructure Guy is the Prison Client Lead-Programme managing the CRED programme across 57 prisons.
The CRED programme (Clean, Rehabilitative, Enabling & Decent) offers serving prisoners and young offenders the opportunity to gain valuable work experience. Working alongside the Amey Prison FM team, the men and women prisoners learn new skills in painting and decorating which they can take in to the world of work on release. The prisoners are offered support to gain vocational qualifications in Painting & Decorating as well as job opportunities upon release via our partnership with the Bell Group.
Guy Grant has extensive experience within the Justice Sector, developed through a wealth of clinical, management, operational, business development and programme management roles including working as a Governor grade within HMPPS as the regional health lead across all North West prisons.
“I am now keen to give back my time and experiences, as a member of POPS’ board, to help the families and prisoners who access POPS’ service.”
Richard Conway
Richard is an experienced lawyer within the Criminal Justice System (CJS) and is currently an enforcement lawyer at the Health & Safety Executive.
With over 10 years at HSE, and 5 years at the Crown Prosecution Service prior to that, coupled with experience of criminal defence work, Richard has experience of all levels of the CJS from charging to the courtroom, and with that an understanding of the effect the process can have on all parties involved. Through the years, Richardhas worked with a range of other law enforcement agencies and understands the wider CJS and those that are involved within it.
“My experience of the courts and the wider CJS has shown me that there are multiple victims in the process. I am both proud and excited to have the opportunity to join the board of trustees at POPS and to use some of my own skills to help the organisation achieve its aims and support POPS in its growth and development.”
Lauren Hall
Lauren is a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Lincoln, and researches desistance from crime and recovery from addiction. Lauren works with people both in prison and in the community to learn about how to strengthen relationships, enhance access to important resources and develop positive identities.
Lauren’s recent work focuses on how we can better support women whose partners are affected by the Criminal Justice System.
She has a dog called Arlo, and her favourite book is Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.
Richard Rowley
Richard is Head of Strategic Partnerships for Working Chance, the UK’s only employment charity for women with convictions. He has over 23 years’ experience working in criminal justice for voluntary, public and private sector organisations, including prisons and probation.
Richard believes that everyone should have the opportunity to thrive and is still as driven as ever to make this happen.
“The work of POPS is renowned and even as a small charity they have a significant reach locally, nationally and internationally. What I find most inspirational is their enduring support for people that inherently don’t have a voice. They never lose sight of what’s important and why POPS was started over 30 years ago.”
Sarah Cooke
Sarah Cooke is the Project Manager for GM Homes Partnership and her role is to lead the programme and co-ordinate the multiple delivery & housing partners within it.
Sarah is an experienced regional and national contracts manager with a demonstrated history of managing large scale contracts across Justice, Housing & Homelessness services.
Sarah has worked in the statutory, public and voluntary sector throughout her career bringing her passion and commitment for empowering and enabling individuals facing personal and systemic challenges to the forefront of each of her professional roles.
Sarah has a strong belief in campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable members of our society and those she feels have been excluded or left behind by national policy.
Sarah’s unwavering determination and solution focused approach to challenges has meant she has worked closely with government, national and local bodies to highlight gaps in the judicial and housing system and implemented multiple pilots and new designs to overcome historic barriers.
“I am incredibly proud to be part of POPs, it is an organisation I have admired for a number of years and their work ensuring families and individuals experiencing the criminal justice system are considered and listened to is exceptional. They are truly leaders in their field and I can’t wait to be part of their ongoing vision”